M6.8 Discussion

Two part: First part are the instruction below; second part is respond to three student post. Only after i post the first part then i can provide the second part on PM

Introduction

The first thing Kenya does when she arrives at work is to check her email. On this particular day, she received an email stating she won a $100 gift card in a sweepstakes game. Kenya sometimes participates in various sweepstakes so she decided to click on the link and stepped away from her desk. When she returned and logged into her computer, she was greeted with a message that her computer has been locked and she will need to pay a ransom before she can regain access. Frantically, Kenya called her technology office and upon their inspection, confirmed Kenya was hit with a ransom attack. Instructions Ransomware is a dangerous malware that can block access to any connected device infected with the malicious code and restricts access until the user pays a ransom amount. It is often spread through phishing emails that contain malicious attachments or sometimes through drive-by downloading. Drive-by downloading occurs when a user unknowingly visits an infected website and then malware is downloaded and installed without the users knowledge. For this activity, you will further explore ransomware – what it is and how it can be prevented. Begin by reading the following: Trend Micro. (n.d.). Ransomware. https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/definition/ransomware Retrieved from https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/definition/ransomware

Now, respond to the following:

How are computers vulnerable to ransomware? Can ransomware be cracked without paying the ransom amount?